We meet again
by WiseDragonGirl
Summary: After Kaiba and Yugi had their dealing with Dartz everything calms down again. Kaiba picks up his usual life again, but now has to fight a different kind of enemy when rumors arise that Kaiba Corperation is still involved with war. The past is catching up with the Kaiba brothers and war is coming close to them. Will they be able to deal with it?
1. It's not a game

The tall glass building, standing out above the other buildings, was guarded by two Blue Eyes White Dragon. A small boy on his mothers hand pointed at them, yelling there were dragons standing there. But his mother laughed and said the were only statues.

A boy with long, black hair grinned as he passed the little boy and his mother, as he walked into the large building. The grandeur of their company often amazed people and it made him proud that his brother was the CEO of all this.

He ran passed the information counter, briefly waving to the woman sitting there and quickly entered an elevator. With a push on the button, the doors silently closed and the elevator brought him to the top floor.

There he entered an office, where a brown-haired teen was sitting at the desk, his fingers going quickly over the keyboard of his laptop.

"Big brother, have you seen the news?"

"What news, Mokuba?" Seto Kaiba asked, without taking his eyes from the screen.

"The duel-disk system is rated first in the recent electronically gadgets ratings."

"Hm." That was all the reply that came out and Mokuba sighed.

"You could show some enthusiasm about that."

"Why would I be surprised? I designed it."

A grin appeared on Mokuba's face as he shook his head. It was true, his brother designed the technology that brought the cards from duel monsters to live with holographic images, both the stadiums as the mobile duel-disk system, their prize product. Their company was specialized in the entertainment and gaming industry, holographic and virtual technology as their key focus. The first they were well-established in, the second was still in development stages and with the hacked test game and later with Noah's virtual world, his brother wanted to have the safety programs fail-proof before bringing it to the market.

The phone on his desk rang and Seto picked it up with a short and annoyed 'Kaiba'.

"_Hey Kaiba! We all were going to the duel monster happening down town. Wanna come?"_

"Wheeler," Seto grumbled in the phone. "I don't have time for such nonsense. I have a job to do."

"_Say what? Come now, you can't work all the time."_

"Listen Wheeler, I have better things to do then to hang out with you dweeps. I have a company to run."

"_Ever thought of personality lessons, rich boy? Jeez, why do I even bother? Yug can ask himself next time. This is just a waste of time."_

"Exactly. Remember that for the next time." With this Seto hung up, grumbling about being disturbed for something trivial as that. It's not that they had to work together against Dartz a while ago that they were all friends now.

A secretary came in to remind Seto of the meeting and he sent her away with an icy glare. He knew that and didn't have to be reminded to it. A meeting with the board of directors, where past figures and numbers would be discussed, and running and future projects were evaluated. One of them being virtual games, like the one he had tested after duelist kingdom. And he had written down some ideas for a new project after that, but he wasn't going to discuss that on the meeting just yet. He wanted to build the prototype first.

When the time came for the meeting, Seto Kaiba got up from behind the desk, his long purple coat moving violently from the sudden movement.

"Let's go, Mokuba."

Mokuba quickly followed his brother, who never seemed to walk calmly. He followed him into the meeting-room, where the older men were all sitting and talking to each other, but they stopped the moment Seto walked in. Ignoring them, Seto walked to up front and glared at the men, who seemed to be uneasy under his look.

"Let's hear it."

With these words the meeting started.

Kaiba was sitting, listening to what his underlings had to say. There was some arguing back and forth about what the company money should be used for.

"About these virtual games," one of the directors said. "Study has shown that war games and other types of first-person shooters are highly popular for the pc and other platforms. Maybe we should create a virtual war game."

Even though this idea got approval from the others, Seto sent the speaker an ice-cold glare.

"No."

"But mister Kaiba…"

"No, we will not create such a game. War itself is bad enough, why should I want to re-create that in a game?" The tone in his voice dropped to a dangerous one. "If I would be interested in that, I could have just kept Kaiba Corp as a weapon company and let my step-father use my idea for virtual software for war instead of games. Since I took over his company, we are not affiliated with war in any way. Do I make myself clear?"

With the directors quickly saying it was very clear and that it was a good view to uphold, Kaiba got up, saying the meeting was over and left, Mokuba quickly following him.

They didn't speak, until they were in Kaiba's office again.

"You made the right decision there," Mokuba said and Seto nodded.

Kaiba Corperation wasn't the same company as his step-father had created. Before Kaiba had taken it over, it was a big company in arms dealing. But he turned it around and made it a gaming company.

There were still people out there who knew what Kaiba Corperation was in the past and coming out with a war game could seriously hurt their reputation. And he just didn't want to come out with such a virtual game, it went against his own beliefs.

He had dealings with concerned parents in the past that felt his holographic images made the card game to violent, but he always was able to come with arguments to ease their minds. Pointing out that the images were the same as the cards and even though the monsters battled each other, when destroyed they just shattered in pieces instead of some gruesome death, almost similar to tearing up a card, was usually enough. The uproar that would come with virtual war games wouldn't be dealt with that easily


	2. The encounter

Days passed and the Kaiba brothers were in Seto's office. Mokuba was watching the news on the big screen television there and Seto was going through some statistics on his laptop when the phone rang.

"_Mister Kaiba,"_ the agitated voice of Roland came through the speaker. _"Some guy just ran in, before our security could stop him."_

"Show me the video images," Seto calmly commanded. "And what elevator is he going to?"

In a moment the security images appeared on his screen as he listened to Rolands explanation of what happened. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the man in the images.

"It's alright, let him come to my office."

Mokuba looked at his brother, puzzled. This was not the response he had expected. On the other side of the phone, Roland was also looking surprised, but he relayed the order to the security staff and directed them to Kaiba's office, so they could intervene when necessary.

It wasn't long before the door slammed open and a young man with short red hair came rushing in, an angry look in his grey eyes. He walked over to the desk, bend over and grabbed Seto's collar.

"You're going to far! The last time we met you were constantly saying that you changed Kaiba Corporation, that you didn't want to have anything to do with your step-father. That you were different, that your company was different! I believed you, Kaiba! And now…"

Seto grabbed Alisters hand and pulled it from his clothing. "What in the world are you talking about, Alister? Kaiba Corporation isn't the same as you know it, I explained that to you. It's not my fault your little brother died in some war with weapons created by my step-father!"

"So you say." Alisters hand formed a fist. "And I actually believed that. But this proves how wrong I was to believe that. You have no intention to change!"

"And what do you base this nonsense on? We're a gaming company! I have no intention to carry on my step-fathers work. I destroyed his research facilities and factories!"

"Then why is your company launching a virtual game featuring all the KC weapons and tanks?"

Seto stared at him, he knew for sure they weren't launching such a game. He shot down that idea in the meeting and nothing could be created without his approval.

"Nonsense, I would know such a thing."

"Don't try to deny it, the word is out on the street."

Seto's icy blue eyes narrowed again. "I never gave the approval for such an idea. Better yet, I clearly stated we would never come out with a virtual war game."

He grabbed the phone and dialed a number, ignoring the angry Alister in front of his desk.

"Who are you calling?" Mokuba inquired, carefully watching Alister and moving towards his brother.

"Melissa, who else?"

Mokuba looked up to his brother, another puzzled look on his face, but then he nodded. Of course he would call the head of the PR-department. There would be need of a press conference sooner or later and she needed to know about rumours that could damage their reputation. Or actually, she should have informed them about such rumours.

When the phone was picked up by Melissa, Seto immediately began to speak.

"Melissa, why haven't you told me people think we're coming out with a virtual war-game featuring the weapons created by my step-father?"

"_Because this is the first I hear about that, mister Kaiba. Are we coming out with such a game?"_

"We're not," Seto grumbled in the phone. "You know my view on the matter."

"_I do, mister Kaiba. Give me some time to figure out what is going on."_

"You've got an hour." Seto hung up and brought his attention back to Alister, who was still looking angrily at him. "I'll look into the matter. Thanks for pointing it out and go home."

"You can't just sent me away like that," the red-haired teen grumbled as he slammed his hands on the desk. "After all that's been said and done on that plane…"

"I can and I will! Just like the last time you refuse to listen to me, you just want an excuse to be angry with me, because of what happened to your little brother, because of the name I carry. I will prove that you are wrong again, Alister. Trust me."

Alister looked at Seto, his cold, grey eyes examining him. Then he straightened his back and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Very well, Kaiba. Proof it to me." With this, he left the office.

Seto's elbows were resting on the desk, his chin resting against his hands and he watched Alister leave.

_I will prove it to you, Alister. To you and everyone else. Kaiba Corporation is better then it once was._


	3. The name of the game?

Alister had left the office and Seto returned to his work. He was going over the latest sales-statistics and Mokuba turned on the television to watch the news of 6 o'clock. Knowing his brother they would be in the office for at least another hour before they would go home.

The newsreader told his viewers about a civil war somewhere on the planet and the stocks of a bank going down, but then an image of Kaiba Corporation appeared on the screen and Mokuba blinked a few times.

"Seto? We're on the news."

"What?" Seto looked up from the computer and watched the television, where there was a life broadcast of people that had gathered outside the door of the building. "What the…"

He grabbed his phone and dialled a number.

"Don't tell me you don't know a crowd has gathered in front of our building protesting against the release of the new game?" he shouted in the telephone. "Find out what is going on and sent Melissa to deal with them!" He slammed the handset back on the telephone and watched the television screen with an intense glare.

"Who did you call?" Mokuba asked.

"Roland, who else?" Seto grumbled. He folded his hands together, letting his elbows rest on the desk and let his chin rest on his hands. Somehow the rumour he had only discovered this day had already spread. The people there seemed to know a virtual war-game was going to be released, even though he had not given his approval for such a game.

He watched as Melissa walked up to the people and talked with them, reassuring them that no such game was coming out, but the crowd didn't seem to take her word for it.

Seto pushed his chair back and got up, picking up the handset of the telephone once more and dialled a number.

On the television screen Mokuba could see Melissa holding the earplug in her ear as his brother said he would be down in a second. Melissa nodded and informed the crowd the CEO would come down and talk with them.

Seto walked around his desk, through his office and opened his door.

"Seto, what about me?" Mokuba asked.

"Stay here, in case someone calls or Roland comes."

Mokuba nodded and looked back at the television, where Melissa was still having a though time calming the crowd down. And moment later his brother walked out of the building and with calm steps walked towards the crowd.

* * *

Seto raised a hand to silence the crowd and he watched the signs they had brought with them.

"I'm here to make an official statement. Kaiba Corp is not going to create a virtual war game featuring weaponry created by the company in the past. Kaiba Corp is not going to create a virtual war game, period. Any questions about that, or was that clear enough for all of you."

"But the news is," one of the protestors started, but he was cut short by Seto.

"Those are false rumours of which I don't know who spread them. We are investigating that right now. I repeat, for those who missed it the first time. We are not developing a virtual war game and we are not going to. Is it clear now? Leave, before I call the police."

Amongst the crowd he noticed Alister and for a moment they looked at each other, before Seto turned around and re-entered the building, leaving Melissa to deal with the rest.

He walked straight into an elevator and pushed the button that would take him to the right floor. The doors closed with the hissing sounds of hydraulics and the elevator quickly rose to the top floor, where the doors opened again. Seto walked out of the elevator and into his office, where he noticed Mokuba was talking in the telephone.

"…no, I told you we are not developing that game….well, I don't care who told you, it's just not true and I-" Mokuba noticed his brother and a sign of relief appeared on his face. He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "Seto, there is someone on the line of that gaming magazine that had placed articles about the duel disk system in the past. They want to know about that virtual game."

With brisk steps Seto walked over to Mokuba and pulled the telephone-handset out of his brothers hands.

"Kaiba here."

"_Mister Kaiba, I was just telling your brother we would love to place an article about that new game you want to market."_

"We are not creating any new games at the moment," Seto grumbled.

"_I think it's a great idea, the youth will surely like it. What is the name of this new game?"_

"We are not developing a virtual war game! Put that in your magazine." For the second time Seto slammed the handset into the telephone and for a brief moment Mokuba wondered how much the telephone would be able to endure. He looked up at his brother, who was looking at the television screen, but the news had already gone to their next item.

"Mokuba, Melissa should be back in her office by now. Go tell her we are going to hold an official press conference concerning the release of that game. Tell her I need to know what is going on and where this rumour is coming from."

"I'm on it!" Mokuba ran away to do as his brother had asked him.

The telephone rang and Seto picked up the handset. "What?" he snarled into it.

"_Mister Kaiba, Yugi Moto is on the line for you."_

"Put him through."

Seconds later he heard Yugi's voice on the other side of the line giving out a greeting.

"Let me guess," Kaiba said. "You have seen the news."

"_Yes."_

"Well, it's not true."

"_No, I didn't think it was. Why are they saying that?"_

"Someone is trying to destroy my reputation." Seto narrowed his eyes. "I need to make a phone-call." He disconnected Yugi, not caring at all it was rude to do so, and dialled a new number.

"Roland, find out if Zigfried von Schroeder has anything to do with this." After this brief order he put down the handset again, more gentle then anytime before that evening. A thoughtful look was in his blue eyes. It could be Zigfried, but if it wasn't him, who was it?


	4. He won't let go

When Mokuba returned to the office his brother was still sitting at his desk. "I've talked with Melissa, she'll take care of the situation," he announced as he walked to his brothers desk.

Seto nodded to show he had heard him, but didn't comment on it.

"I had not expected Alister to come here," Mokuba continued with a sigh.

"No, that was unexpected. As was the news he had brought." Seto frowned as he thought about it, but shook his head and got up from behind the desk. "We're going home."

Mokuba nodded and called to the driver of their limousine to drive the car to the entrance.

Seto turned off his computer, grabbed his suitcase and walked through the door, with his little brother next to him. He events of that day still bothered him, but on the other side was it just a problem he would find a solution for soon enough, if his employees started proving their worth for a change. Still, he had a cautious faith in the female PR-manager, and that was rare for him. Her and Roland, those two were the only employees he dared trusting.

Roland joined them on the way down, informing Seto with an update about the situation, which basically came down that there was no real progress in solving the situation.

The three of them made their way to the entrance of the tall, glass building and through the automatic doors, but there they stopped.

Below the set of stairs the black limousine was parked, but instead of the driver it was Alister who leaned against the door. His grey eyes holding a harsh look.

"Don't you have anything better to do then to wait outside my building till I come out?" Seto asked him, walking down the stairs. "Really Alister, if you're going to stalk me now…"

"I'm not going to do that. You promised me proof, Kaiba."

Seto placed his suitcase on the hood of the car and pulled a file from it, handing it to Alister.

The text contained details about a proposed idea, the game the rumours were about, including what KC weapons and tanks would be used, with a big read stamp across it. Denied. The date was that of a couple of days ago.

"This doesn't proof a thing," Alister simply said.

"It doesn't? An idea needs my approval before we do anything." Seto sent an ice glare in the direction of Alister, pulling the file from his hands. "I don't care if you believe me or not. Take your pathetic ideas of me and go home. I'm not wasting any more time on you."

Having said this, Seto grabbed his suitcase and pulled open the car door. Without a second look at the red-haired man Seto took his seat in the back of the limousine. Mokuba did look at Alister and opened his mouth to say something, but Alister walked away. Mokuba watched him walk away, feeling a bit sorry for him, but he too got in the car and Seto gave the short order to the driver to take him home.

Mokuba looked at his brother when the driver started the drive back home, but his brother was looking outside, with one leg over the other and his arms crossed. He didn't seem to be in a mood to talk, so Mokuba kept silent. He let out a small sigh and turned his eyes to the window on his side, viewing the city as they were driving through it.

Seto had his eyes on the window of the care, but barely noticed the passing cars, the people walking on the side-walk or the buildings they were passing. For some reason he had to think about the duel with Alister on top of the plane a while back. Alister had blamed him, as the head of Kaiba Corporation, for the war in which he had lost his little brother. True, there had been weaponry from Kaiba Corporation that caused the death and destruction there, but that had everything to do with his step-father Gozaburo and nothing with him. Long and slender fingers covered his face as he remembered the vision Alister had caused, where he had viewed the city Alister used to live and the war which destroyed it. Seto pushed the memory away. He had nothing to do with that, but it made him realize one thing. There would be more people out there who would remember the past of Kaiba Corporation and hold a grudge, much like Alister had.


	5. The early bird gets the tank

_Authors note: I wanted to thank my readers and subscribers for reading my story. Updates will be slow, but I can promise you that more chapters will follow. Please be patient with me _^_^

* * *

After a dinner that was eaten mostly in silence, the two Kaiba brothers spent some time in the living room, where Mokuba was watching television and Seto reading a book. It didn't surprise Mokuba that it was a book about holographic technologies written by some professor. His brother rarely took time to read 'nonsense written by others' as he often referred to novels and such. The only things he did for amusement seemed to be chess and duel monsters, two games he excelled in.

After having spent some time together like that, the brothers each went to their bedrooms to get some sleep. Mokuba wished his brother a good night before entering his bedroom. Seto walked a bit further down the hall to enter his.

His bedroom was spacious, but with little furniture , a big build-in closet took a large part of one of the walls. There was a round table with two comfortable chairs in one corner and a large double bed in the middle of the room. A door lead to a private bathroom.

Seto walked up to the bed where his pyjama pants were lying. He calmly changed his clothing, lay down in the bed and turned off the light. Though he didn't sleep, he stared in the darkness above him, thinking about what happened that day. It didn't keep him awake long though, after a silent promise to himself he would get the one responsible and make him pay, he soon fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Seto was sitting at the breakfast table with Mokuba next to him. A cup of coffee was standing next to his plate, where a half-eaten slice of bread still lay. He turned the page of the newspaper, something he read every morning.

"There is some mention about the protest in front of our building yesterday and the comments I gave," he informed Mokuba. "That was to be expected."

He briefly looked up when he heard the door and could see Roland enter. When he had established it was Roland, he turned his attention back to the newspaper.

"Roland, I want to see Melissa in my office at eight."

"Sir, doesn't she start working at nine?" Roland asked.

The newspaper dropped a bit and an icy glare was sent to Roland.

"Yes Mister Kaiba, I'll call her right now."

Roland left swiftly and Mokuba started to chuckle.

"What is it?" Seto asked with a sigh, lifting the newspaper again to continue reading.

"You haven't lost your touch yet, Seto."

"You'd think he knows by now that if I say something, I want him to do to just that."

He read over the financial section of the newspaper, checked what news it had about the stocks of his own company and then folded the newspaper up. He finished his breakfast and looked to see if Mokuba was ready.

Mokuba nodded, finished his glass of orange juice and followed his brother.

On their way out Roland joined them and informed Seto that Melissa would be there as requested and informed him about other thing he needed to know. Seto listened silently, only giving an occasional nod, as he walked out of the mansion and towards the limousine that was waiting for him with his briefcase in his hand.

The driver opened the door for him, so he could enter without having to wait. Mokuba joined him in the back, Roland took the passenger seat in the front of the car. The driver closed the door behind Mokuba, walked around the car and took place in the driver seat. After quickly adjust the rear-view mirror he drove away.

The drive happened in silence, both the Kaiba brothers were just looking out of their windows. They were driving through the city, where many people were going about. People doing early grocery shopping, suppliers delivering supplies to stores, workers going to their job, small groups of students in their school uniform on their way to school. Seto watched it all with very little interest. Why would he care about these people? They were just part of the background of the city as he was on his way to work.

Suddenly the eyes of the young CEO narrowed. "Stop the car."

The driver looked back, but did as he was told and pulled over.

"Wait here." Seto got out of the car and walked back to the electronic game shop they had driven past. Mokuba quickly followed his brother, as did Roland. Mokuba was just curious to see what his brother had seen. Roland was more concerned with the safety of the CEO.

In the window of the shop was a cardboard version of a KC tank. There was no question about that, he knew the weaponry the company had produced in the time of his step-father all to well.

The blue eyes of Kaiba filled with anger and he immediately entered the store.

"Where is the owner?!" Kaiba asked as he walked in.

"Right here, what can I do for you?"

"That tank you have on display," Seto growled. "How did you get it?"

"I-it was sent to me by Kaiba Corporation, for the new game that is being released."

"Didn't you watch the news yesterday? I told the media there is no new game being released." His voice was calm, layered with ice. It was enough to make the shop owner back away a bit. "So tell me how you got the idea this tank is promotion material for a new game?"

"B-because of the letter that came with it. I got it in the mail, a letter and that cardboard tank that I had to put together."

"Hand over your letter, the envelop it all came in and that tank!"

"You can't…"

The eyes of Seto narrowed. "If it was sent to you by my company for free, then I as the CEO have all the rights to take it back. So hand it over!"

The shop owner quickly nodded and hurried away to collect the letter and envelop. When he returned and handed them to Seto, he pulled them from the hands of the man and gave them to Roland without looking at them.

"Investigate."

"Yes mister Kaiba."

"Don't forget the tank."

"Yes mister Kaiba."

Without a second look at the man, Seto turned around and left the shop. It was a good thing he would see Melissa first thing when he came into his office. A stunt like this usually came from the PR department, even though he suspected Melissa would be as surprised to see it as he was.

Back in the car Seto noticed his cell-phone went off. He grabbed it from his pocket, briefly looked at the display and accepted the call.

"Yugi, why are you calling?"

"_We received an envelop in the mail, with a letter about the new game and some pieces of cardboard with which we can make a model to be used as display in the shop."_

"Your grandfathers game shop doesn't sell electronic games. Why did you receive it?"

"_So…you did sent it then."_

"No," Seto growled in the speaker. "But I already found that model you're talking about in an electronic game shop. I figured it was only sent to shops that will sell games like the one the rumour is about. Can you bring it over?"

There was a silence of just a couple of seconds. _"Sure, I'll come over right now, then I'll still at school at time."_

"Good." After this, Seto disconnected the call and let the cell phone slip in his pocket again. "That was Yugi, his grandfather also received that tank."

"Why?" Mokuba looked at his brother, he too thought it was strange for them to reveice the model.

"I guess the sender looked up the addresses of game shops and failed to check if they sell electronic games or not." He glanced at his watch and let out a small sigh. "I'll give it till nine before Alister comes barging in my office again because he has spotted one of those tanks somewhere."

"Yeah, most likely," Mokuba agreed, also letting out a sigh.

Seto looked out of the car window again as they approached his building. He could see the giant statues of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, guarding the entrance of the building. They would not be able to help him this time.

"Why is it we can save the world with a card game, like with Dartz, but when it comes to my company the solution is not that simple?"

Mokuba looked at his brother, but didn't answer. What answer was there to give? He was right, a card game wouldn't help them this time. A tournament could help to boost the companies image, but that wouldn't solve the problem they now had.


	6. Is there a solution?

The two Kaiba brothers entered the office to see Melissa sitting in one of the chairs. The short-haired brunette got up from her chair when she spotted them. Her hazel eyes focussed on Seto as he walked across the room to his desk. Without a word he handed her the letter he had taken from the shop they had stopped and she skimmed over the text.

"We didn't sent this, mister Kaiba."

"I should hope so, that's enough reason to get fired."

"I know." She looked at the cardboard tank Roland had in his hands, a thoughtful expression in her eyes. "I'll investigate it, mister Kaiba."

Seto nodded, the efficiency of this woman was why he had made her head of the PR department. She didn't talk endlessly about why something was a problem, but focussed on solving the problem. "Make a list of all stores that sell games and sent people to collect those models."

"Yes sir."

"And find out who sent them the models in the first place."

"Of course. I'll get right to it." She turned around and took the model from Rolands hand as she was walking to the door. With her hand on the door handle she looked back at Seto. "Mister Kaiba, it could help if we would come out with something new, so the press can focus on that."

"Let me worry about that, Melissa."

"Yes sir, excuse me now."

Seto nodded and Melissa opened the door, where she almost bumped into a panting Yugi, who was standing on the other side. The large, white envelop with the KC loge was in his hand. He looked at Melissa and smiled apologetically at her, she looked a bit startled by his sudden appearance on the other side of the door. He then glanced around her and looked into the office.

"Kaiba, I have the envelop."

Seto looked up and made a waving motion in the direction of Melissa. "Give it to her."

Yugi handed the envelop to Melissa, who thanked him for it and left the office. She had a task to do and didn't want to waste any time. Yugi watched her go and closed the door behind him.

"Kaiba, what is going on?"

"For some reason someone is adamant about bringing back the past of my company," Seto grumbled, rubbing his face. He didn't like it one bit, even though it seemed teenagers who hadn't been into duel monsters were taking interest in the company because of that game. An annoyed grimace appeared on his face. He didn't need them to keep his company running, he didn't want his companies name be linked to war again. He wouldn't allow that to happen.

"If I can help, I will." Yugi sat down on the couch, next to Mokuba. As far as he was concerned, Kaiba and he had been through a lot together and going after Dartz wouldn't have been that easy without the help of Kaiba and his company.

"Just tell the people at your school the game is nothing but rumours when they talk about it."

"Right." Yugi looked at the clock and let out a small sigh. "I should be going, I'll be late otherwise. Kaiba, if I hear anything that might help, I'll call."

Seto nodded and watched the short teen quickly leave his office. His rival, but at least one that was on the same side. He turned his attention to the computer screen in front of him and started going through his e-mails. As always, that was the first thing he did and it always took a while before reading through all of them. That's what you get for being a CEO of a large company.

He was still reading e-mails when the doors opened and an agitated Alister entered the office. Seto had given instructions to let him pass when he came. Seto looked up from his computer screen and glanced at the clock at the wall.

"Kaiba!"

"You're late."

Alister stopped and stared at Seto, before blinking a few times. "What?"

"I was expecting you half an hour ago." Seto calmly folded his hands together and let his chin rest on them. "Let me guess, you were wandering through the city when you suddenly noticed a cardboard display tank you know all to well and you came here to ask me about it."

"Yes, what is the meaning of that?! You said…"

"I know very well what I said," Seto said, not giving Alister the chance to finish his sentence. "And all I can tell you is that I didn't sent those to the shops and my PR manager is clueless as well, but she's investigating the matter."

Alister snorted, folding his arms in front of his chest. "You expect me to believe that? You claim that game wouldn't be released and now these displays show up in game stores?"

"I don't expect you to believe me. If I recall correctly, last time it took a duel and a crashing plane to finally get through that thick head of yours. And forgive me, but I'm not going to let another of my planes crash, just to try and convince you. I may be richer then you'll ever be, I like to spent my money on something other then replacing planes."

Alister glared at Seto, angered by the snub remark, but the angry expression faded as he remembered the battle. He glanced at Mokuba, who was looking at them with a file in his hands. Against all odds, Kaiba had managed to safe his little brother, just like he had said he would do. "No need to crash a plane for me."

"Oh? You did get some sense in your thick head then."

Anger flared up in his eyes again. "Don't patronise me, Kaiba. You can never understand what this situation does to me. I was in the middle of that war with KC weaponry an both sides and now I'll be reminded of that every time I walk past a game shop!"

"I know that, Alister," Seto calmly responded. "You and dozens other survivors, who most likely hate Kaiba Corp just as much as you do. And now I have to deal with all those angry people who lost homes and loved ones in wars due to weapons created by this company, even though we are a gaming company now. Don't blame me for what happened, Alister, blame those that started the war. My step-father, even though I resent him and what he stood for, only delivered the weaponry. The decision to use them in war was not his."

"That doesn't make it right to sell it," Alister growled.

"You don't have to convince me, I'm the one who stopped the production of weapons and turned the company around." Seto leaned back in his chair, his hands folded in front of his chest. "You seem to forget that part. I've told you a thousand times already, Kaiba Corporation is not the same company as you remember it. Try to remember that, I'm getting tired of having to repeat myself." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "If that was all, I still have work to do."

They looked at each other, Alister and Seto. Mokuba started to feel uncomfortable under their staring contest, even though they were looking at each other and not at him.

"Fine." Alister turned around and left the office.

Seto let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the screen in front of him. He knew there were people like Alister out there and if there were too many of them the recent events could make them start a protest against his company. That was something he had to prevent, because they could very easily convince others why his company was evil and needed to be boycotted. With his slender finger he started rubbing his temples. This situation was far from resolved, he would have his PR department make overtime to counter anything that could harm his company before it started.

"Are you going to come with something new, like Melissa advised?" Mokuba asked from where he was sitting and Seto looked up at his younger brother.

"Yes Mokuba. And I already know what."


	7. Time to duel

Authors note: again sorry for the slow updates. I'm working on several stories and I'm playing in a few rp's. Besides that I have a job, so writing is a bit slow and my main focus is on one of my other stories now. That does not mean I have abandoned this one! I will still update this story with more chapters!

Things don't seem to get better for Seto just yet

* * *

To come out with something new, that was something Seto was planning to do, but that would take time. All they could do for now was counter the rumours with official statements that those rumours were exactly that: just rumours.

For the second time Seto Kaiba looked at the advertisement in his mailbox. Another duel tournament was going to start, organized by Industrial Illusions. Competing in that could help to boost the reputation of the company. If he'd win. And then there was Pegasus of course, he'd rather have nothing to do with that man. Still, people were expecting him to join the duel monsters tournament. He clicked it away and opened another screen with the basic outlines of a new product.

A knock on the door disturbed his work and he glared at the door as it opened. It was almost impossible to work on it with people constantly disturbing him. Of course he could give the orders to some of the company programmers to work on it, but this was something he wanted to do himself. It wasn't just to show the world the things Kaiba Corporation produced these days, it was to show his enemies what he could do. And again, it wasn't just that. It was one of the few things he enjoyed doing.

The man in a suit that cautiously walked up to his desk had a sheet of paper in his hand. Without a word Seto took it from him and read it. Results of the stock market. It seemed like their stocks were dropping a bit in value and someone was busy buying a lot of them. Grumbling, Seto put the list on his desk. Great, another thing he'd have to look into.

"Leave," he said and the man quickly left the office.

A popup informed him he had an e-mail and with a sigh he opened his mailbox. He had been getting plenty of those as well. He noticed the name of the sender and he glared at the screen even before reading it. An e-mail from Zigfried von Schroeder could never be good. The man owned his own gaming company and had accused him of theft, something that angered him to no end, because the holographic dueling technology had been his own idea. Still, after the KC Grand Championship things between them had settled down a bit.

_Gutentag herr Kaiba,_

_I hope you're not eaten alive yet, I've seen the protests against the release of your new game. I think it's a great idea._

"If you like it so much you can have it," Seto grumbled, but he continued reading.

_Maybe we can work together on this one. A project between Schroeder Corp and KaibaCorp!_

"Like that will happen."

_I mean, no hard feeling for planting a virus in your database during your KC Grand Championship, right?_

"You have no idea."

_Speaking of which, there is a tournament coming I heard. Don't bother competing, you'll never defeat Yugi. You have not won one single duel against him. It will only hurt your company if you lose in the tournament. _

Seto's hand formed a fist. Siegfried did have a point there. In what duel had he been better then Yugi? Yugi had defeated him more then once. Yugi had defeated Pegasus after Pegasus had defeated him. Even when they worked together against Dartz, he ended up losing. Still, not competing would also give out the wrong message. Seto shook his head and looked at the e-mail again.

_Auf wiedersehen, herr Kaiba. Keep me informed about this new game._

Seto re-read the e-mail. He knew Siegfried was up to something. He'd have to keep an eye on him as well, on top of everything else. He clicked the e-mail away, he would worry about that later, first he wanted to work on his new project. The second he opened his program again, he got a phone call from Roland to inform him some classified information had leaked. Seto covered his eyes with a hand. On top of everything else.

"Come to my office."

Seto put down the phone and closed the program, he'd have to work on that later.

Seconds later the phone rang again. Pegasus this time to ask if he'd enter the tournament. Seto promised him to get back to that later.

"_Oh yes,"_ Pegasus said. _"You probably have other things to worry about, right Kaiba-boy? Oh, Yugi has just registered, just so you know. I can understand if you don't want to join now, because, let's face it, in what world can you defeat him?"_

"I'll join," Seto grumbled in the phone. "I will prove you and everyone I can and will defeat Yugi!" With this he slammed the phone down. He would not be called a coward, turning back from this duel would only hurt his reputation.

With a sigh he started to rub his temples. There really was too much on his head now.


	8. Preparing for the tournament

After some communication between Seto Kaiba and Maximillion Pegasus about the use of Kaiba-Corps duel-disks for the Duel Monsters Tournament, the beginning was official.

Competitors would have a week to get enough points to join the actual tournament. The point system was a new idea from Pegasus, in which he used the official rankings. The top ten duelists started with thirty points, the amount needed to enter the tournament, all the others had to work their way up by winning duels. Every duel won earned a point and with every duel lost they lost a point. Every duel won against one of the top ten duelists earned two points. Every day with no duel made the duelist lose two points until they reached zero.

The first day Seto had already challenged three duelist, to ensure his lead. The clothes he was wearing were the same as in his own Battle City Tournament. He was busy with his third duel of the day. And it bored him, none of the duels were interesting. He didn't even have to bring out his Blue Eyes in the last two. He grumbled as the third duel ended. They were no match for him, where was the thrill of the game? The pleasure when he won and showed everyone he was the best. When had that disappeared? He glanced in the direction of Yugi. Duels with Yugi were never boring, but there hadn't been a single duel against Yugi he had won. He could challenge him now, but what if he would lose again?

One week, there was one week until the tournament would begin. And none of the duelists here were worth his time, except for one he didn't want to battle now. If he would lose to Yugi on top of everything else, that wouldn't help him at all.

He turned around and returned to his building. This was all a huge waste of time. Mokuba quickly followed his big brother, he was surprised that he suddenly left like that.

"Hey brother, wait up!" Mokuba said, but his brother didn't stop.

Mokuba managed to catch up with him and walked besides him into the building of Kaiba Corp. In silence they walked through the corridor, into the elevator. They remained silent as the elevator brought them to the top floor where Seto's office was. The silence continued as the walked towards the office. Mokuba had frequently glanced in the direction of his brother, but the look on his face was clear, he didn't want to be disturbed.

When they were in the office, Seto looked at his younger brother, but instead of explaining anything he walked to his desk and grabbed the briefcase that was standing there.

"Mokuba," he finally said, "I'm going to leave for a couple of days."

"Wait, what?" The astonished Mokuba walked closer to his brother. "What did you say?"

"I'm leaving for a couple of days," Seto repeated his earlier remark.

"Why?"

Seto sighed and stared out the window. "Do you remember when I left right after Yugi had defeated me for the first time?"

Mokuba certainly did, not long his brother had left he had been kidnapped by Pegasus.

"I made the first portable dual disk system then," Seto continued. "With all that is going on I don't have the time to work on my new project. The duels don't thrill me anymore, in fact, they bore me. I need some time away from this all to get myself back together. When I return, it will be finished." He tapped with his fingers on the briefcase, where the unfinished prototype of his latest project was. "Building something helped me back then to get my mind straight, I need to do that again." His voice sounded calm, rational. His blue eyes were focused on the part of the city he could see from his office.

"But Seto, what about the tournament? You'll lose points of you don't duel!"

"I can afford to lose some points, Mokuba. I'll be back in time to get the points I need to enter the tournament. Trust me." Seto turned around to look at his brother. "I will only be gone for a few days, I have prepared some actions you can take when whoever the vulture inside the company is will attempt his next move. Make sure to talk with Roland and Melissa daily and discuss how the status is and what you can do to improve it. If the press get's annoying, promise them I'll answer their questions when I get back. If they ask where I am, tell them I didn't tell anyone where I have gone to."

"Where will you go to?" Mokuba then asked.

A smile appeared on Seto's face. "I won't tell you. Just trust me, Mokuba. Your trust is really all I need in this matter."

"You have that, Seto, you know that! Don't worry, I'll keep our company safe till you come back. Please be careful." Mokuba looked at the ground, he didn't want his brother to see he was close to crying. He felt he hand on his head and looked up.

"Mokuba, you know I trust you. I wouldn't leave the company in your hands if I didn't."

Mokuba nodded.

"I'll see you in a few days."

Again Mokuba nodded. He watched his brother walk through the office, open the door and close it behind him as he walked out of the office. He let out a sigh and looked around in the office. Now it was up to him to deal with everything, but he promised himself he wouldn't let his brother down. He would not betray his trust.


	9. As the days pass

Waves were smashing in the rocks in the fading light of the day. In a white house on a steep cliff by the sea was only one room with the lights turned on, all the others windows looked like black holes in the white walls of the house. It wasn't the first time Seto had taken refuge here and he figured it wouldn't be the last time either.

He hadn't been here ever since he had worked on his first duel disk system, just before he had gone to Pegasus' island to get his brother back. The situation was different now, but somehow he felt almost the same as back then.

A computer was running and Seto glanced at the screen, before focusing on the white box in front of him and screwing one of the small screws in place. Finally this project was getting along nicely. He had no idea how the rankings of the upcoming tournament were and quite frankly, he couldn't care less. He knew how many points he had and already had made an estimate how many duels he would have to do when he would return. There was no doubt in his mind he could pull it off in time.

.

Meanwhile in Domino city were the qualification rounds still in progress. The disappearance of Seto Kaiba had caught everyone's attention and everyone was speculation.

Some called him a coward, running off because he was afraid he'd lose. Others thought he was preparing a secret strategy that would make him undefeatable. Some just shrugged and said he only wanted a vacation. Another group though he was kidnapped by someone and that KaibaCorp was keeping it a secret for them. The reason why he would be kidnapped varied a lot at well. It could be for money, for his Blue Eyes or to keep him from entering the tournament. Maybe it was Yugi who hid him in the basement in fear of losing his number one position.

"Hey Yuug, you know what happened to Rich Boy?" Joey asked, stretching his arms as he asked the question. He was sitting on a bench with Yugi, both with a duel disk on their arm. They both had enough points to enter the tournament and the both had done their mandatory duel of the day already.

"I don't know, Joey. No-one seems to know," Yugi said and he let out a sigh. He couldn't help it, he was a bit worried for Kaiba. Without any word he had just vanished. Yugi knew one thing for sure, Kaiba wasn't in his basement. And all Mokuba said about the matter was that his brother was away. That was what he said to the reporters when they asked, that was what he had said when Yugi asked, but he had added that his brother hadn't told him where he went. When Yugi asked if Mokuba knew why his brother had left, Mokuba had nodded, but said he wouldn't tell. He would let his brother reveal that when he returned.

"I think he just got scared," Joey said with a grin. "After all, he was only looked at another defeat by your hands."

"Perhaps," Yugi said reluctantly. He wasn't all that convinced that was the reason, or at least not the entire reason. He looked up to see a familiar face, even though he had to think hard to remember his name. Alister, one of the henchman of Dartz. The one Kaiba had defeated. He knew Alister and Kaiba had been in contact after that, Mokuba had told him. Mokuba had also told him what they knew about Alister. Yugi had thought it was a tragic story and with all the recent events concerning Kaiba Corp it was no surprise to see Alister here. It was a long shot, but maybe...

Yugi got up from the bench. "Hello Alister," he said as he walked up to him.

Alister turned and watched Yugi coming closer. "Yes?"

"Do you know where Kaiba is?"

"How should I know?" Alister grumbled.

"Well, you did go see him a few times, I thought maybe he had told you something."

Alister looked at Yugi silently and then shook his head. "No, I don't know where he ran off to."

"Do you know why?"

"Maybe hiding because an angry mob is on it's way due to blood his precious company is build on?" Alister sneered, his hand forming a fist as he spoke.

"I don't think that's the reason," Yugi said, looking at Alister's fist. "Kaiba wouldn't hide for that, he'd face them."

Alister shrugged and started to walk away. "Whatever. Truth is, I don't know where he is, just like you. So don't bother me about it."

Yugi watched Alister leave, that conversation hadn't answered the question. And if Kaiba wouldn't come back soon, he wouldn't be able to compete in the tournament. Tomorrow would be the last they to get enough points to enter. And with the days he hadn't dueled he had already dropped to 29 points, where he needed 30 to be able to enter the tournament.

The question to where Seto Kaiba was remained a hot item as everyone could see his name go slowly down the chart, to the point where it was today. Speculations as to where he was were growing and they would only stop when the CEO of Kaiba Corporation would return.

.

Mokuba was sitting in the office of his brother, watching the city beneath him through one of the large windows. There was still no word from his brother, he hoped Seto would be alright. Time was running short for the tournament. Melissa had asked him if he knew where his brother was and he had to tell her he didn't. He really didn't, Seto hadn't told him where he would be and he wasn't answering any calls. Not that Mokuba had expected him to actually answer, but that hadn't stopped him from trying.

_Please be safe, Seto. And hurry back, I can't do this by myself_


End file.
